


After dark

by okinawabxtch



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Cars, Drugs, Eventual Smut, Gangs, Kenma/y/n, Kozume Kenma - Freeform, Kozume kenma & y/n - Freeform, Kuroo Tetsurou - Freeform, Other, POV y/n, Slow Burn, Smut, Street Racing, Tokyo - Freeform, Violence, deciphered au, kenma & y/n
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:35:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,358
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29772135
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okinawabxtch/pseuds/okinawabxtch
Summary: *Deciphered AU* All credits to @hoeneymilktea on Ao3 and Wattpad as well as @aikk00 on tumblrCar Mechanic Kozume Kenma x thief reader"When she snuck into the Nekoma Car Shop to "borrow" a few spare parts and some cash, she didn't expect to be caught and forced into the role of  an assistant for the shops most talented mechanic.  To be fair, both of them were forced into it."
Relationships: Kozume Kenma & y/n
Comments: 38
Kudos: 102
Collections: The Deciphered Universe Collection





	1. After hours

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [deciphered](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27911611) by [hoeneymilktea](https://archiveofourown.org/users/hoeneymilktea/pseuds/hoeneymilktea). 



> Hi, this is my first book. I was prompted to make this in a tiktok comment section. I am a full-time student and don't know how often I will be able to update, but if some people start reading this, I will probably update it faster lmao. Uh this book is named after my favorite song After Dark by Mr. Kitty, it's really good I would definitely recommend adding it to your playlist and playing it while reading. The story won't be fast paced, as I like slow burn, so don't expect them to start stripping in the first chapter. Anyways, please give me feed back!

"Shit, not again." You groan to yourself. 

Yet again your car refuses to start, and that usually signals to you that it's going to be a shitty ass day. 

Right now, you are parked in an alley that’s so skinny you can’t even open your doors fully. As you stumble out of the car, you realize just how late it is. The sky outside was pitch black, which you had failed to notice because of the constant lighting the streetlights and buildings provide. Looking around, you see that it probably isn’t the best idea to even try and start your car, because, even though you are in an industrial district, there are residential neighborhoods everywhere in Tokyo, and you knew you didn’t want anyone to know you were here in the first place. Walking to the front of your car, you pop the hood and inspect to see what damage was dealt this time. 

Long ago, you were going to sell this car because of how unreliable it was, however, once your dad died, his precious BMW 8 Series from 1989 was the only thing you had left, especially after you lost the apartment.

Right now, you were homeless, about 2 months ago, your dad was involved in a freak accident at his work and died. You stopped going to school, stopped eating, and stopped talking to anyone. It was like you had dropped off the face of the Earth. Two weeks later, right before rent was due, you packed up your necessities, and left Nagoya to drive to Tokyo.

You had no plan, but you always knew you wanted to see Tokyo. During that 4 and a half hour drive, you finally got it into your head just how fucked up your life had and will become. You had little money, no relatives, and only a phone to occupy you. Once you got there, you had been driving all across Tokyo for a little over a month, sleeping in alleys and doing odd jobs to be able to pay for gas as well as cheap onigiri and ramen. Oh, and borrowing things. You had discovered your knack for pick pocketing at a young age, but you had never actually put it to use until now. Whenever you would go to a corner store to pick up some food, you always managed to grab something extra, the cashiers oblivious. However, you hadn’t tried nabbing anything bigger than a day's worth of food.

Today, you had stumbled into your car after doing an all night job that involved standing at a construction zone for 8 hours redirecting any late night traffic. Apparently, you had slept much longer than you intended since you were so tired.

Realizing there was no way you could start your car, because it probably wouldn't start in the first place as well as it being the middle of the night, you grab your coat, lock up your car, and grab one of your last cigarettes to take a walk.

Even though you were only 18, you had started to smoke back in high school to try and “rebel”. However it didn’t last long when your dad found out and convinced you to stop.

Once he died, you took up smoking again. The first week you were high all the time off of weed, as well as drunk almost 24/7 because you couldn't accept it. After blowing a bunch of your money, you finally realized that you wouldn’t have wanted your dad to see you like that, so you cleaned up and began to plan out your future without your dad. The only thing you let yourself go with was cigarettes because they were socially acceptable, and they also didn’t affect you as much as weed and alcohol did.

Now, as you are walking down this street lit only by street lamps and neon signs, flickering into the dark air, you savored the smoke you inhaled before slowly exhaling it into the space in front of you. Taking your phone out of your pocket, you were relieved to see that it was still more than half-way charged. Again rummaging into your pocket, you withdraw some cheap headphones that you borrowed from a gas station on the way to Tokyo after you had gotten bored with no music. Plugging them into your phone, you look through one of your many playlists before selecting one that fit the mood you were in.

Starting to hum the song, you got lost in the lyrics. The truth was, you loved music, despite you not being able to sing for shit. You listened to many different genres, just whatever you were in the mood for.

As you walked farther down the street, you saw that there was a vending machine tucked into an alcove. Feeling thirsty, you grab a coffee to walk with. As you turn around to keep walking, you spot a neon sign reading Nekoma Auto Shop. Pausing, you take a closer look and see that it looks deserted, unsurprising for this time of night.

Walking up to it, you understand why it caught your eye, the neon sign was a deep red, showcasing the logo of a cat.

“What a weird-ass logo for an auto shop.” you mused to yourself.

Suddenly, you realized just how great of an opportunity this was, you knew you needed some parts to help keep your car running, and also knew that you could easily get into the shop. If you were lucky, you could even score some cash.

Turning off your music, putting your headphones away, and setting your coffee to be forgotten, you start to circle the building, looking for potential entrances. Seeing a window about 4 feet off of the ground, you decide that this will suffice and start looking for crates or boxes to help boost you up there. Finding a decent sized crate, you stand on it to assure yourself of its sturdiness, then set it down in front of the window. Stepping up onto it, you peer into the window and see if you can see someone in the space below. Seeing no one, you see if the window is unlocked, unsurprisingly, it is. Most neighborhoods were safe in Tokyo, aside from a few, so it was common to be careless with things like windows. Swinging the window outwards, you climb up onto the ledge and get into a sitting position. Looking directly down, you see a workbench littered with tools. You try and aim for a relatively clear space, and are able to shimmy down until you are on the ground.

Checking your surroundings, you are hit with the realization that either whoever owned this shop was rich as fuck, or shady as fuck. There were clearly expensive cars parked around the open area, shining where the moon hit them. You went up to one of the cars and swiped your finger on the smooth chrome, not even a bit of dust. 

“Who even keeps their cars this clean?” you mutter to yourself incredulously.

Deciding to leave the cars alone, you go to the outskirts of the garage to try and find the part you needed, which you figured was jumper cables, since you knew little to nothing about cars. Coming to the conclusion that you had no fucking idea what jumper cables looked like, you decided that after you took a look around, you would go back to your car until the shop opened up and then ask one of the mechanics for help.

“Yeah, that’s a good idea.” 

Now that your hunt for the cables was over, you could focus your efforts on grabbing some cash before you leave. Walking around the building, you looked for doors into extra rooms, because that’s probably where they kept it.

Finding a door that looked like it led into an office of some kind, you walk in. It was dark inside, so you switched on a lamp at one of the desks. After going through the desks, you stumble upon a thick envelope. Once open, you see that it’s bursting at the seams with ten thousand yen bills. Gasping, you sit back on your heels and stare at the money. This was more money than you had ever seen in your life. 

After taking fifty thousand yen, you slide the envelope back in the drawer. Feeling giddy, you turn around to get out of the auto shop and back to your car to count your new earnings. Walking up to the door, you put your hand on the doorknob and turn. 

However, as you walk through the doorway, you hit an obstacle and fall back on your ass.

“Hey! Watch where you are going fucker!” You shouted angrily.

Then, reality hit you. You were in a car shop, alone, at night. No one was supposed to be there. 

You were fucked.

Slowly, you tilt your head up to see who you were gonna have to run away from. You couldn’t make out his face, but you could tell it was a lean man about your height. You decide that it was better to try and escape then face punishment no matter what.

So, you scrambled off the floor and onto your feet. The man seemed startled, so you took that second of hesitation as a chance to get out. Shoving past him, you run to where the window was. Climbing up, you try and go through the still open window. Half-way through, however you lose your balance. As you're falling you shut your eyes and brace for the impact that doesn’t come.

Confused, you raise your head and look up to see the same man as earlier. Realizing he caught you, you start to thrash in his arms, causing him to drop you. This time, you actually fall and hit the ground, knocking the air out of your lungs. Laying there, you finally accept your defeat.

After a minute, a foot nudges your side. “You still alive?” the man says.

“Nah” I mutter into the asphalt.

“Get up, I wanna know what the fuck you were doing in the shop at 3 A.M. in the morning.” He remarks.

“No.” I reply.

Again, you feel a foot nudge your side, this time rolling you over to face the night sky. You sit up to finally take a look at the man, and pause.

You don’t remember what you thought this man looked like when you saw him the first time you walked into him, but you must need your vision checked because fuck, he’s hot. He was wearing a black jumpsuit with the arms tied at the waist and a white tee dirty with grease. His hair was dark and had blonde tips, tied back in a bun with strands falling out. His face looked like it had been fucking sculpted, and his eyes were harsh and judging, a bright gold color. His pale skin made his tattoos stand out where they peeked from his collar. He looked lean, with arms only slightly muscled, probably from working on cars. When he licked his lips, you could see a flash of metal and realized he also had a fucking tongue piercing. Looking closer, multiple piercings dotted his ears and he had a septum piercing as well. 

Realizing how uncomfortable he looked, you also realized that you had been staring at him far too long. Once again scrambling to your feet, you once again attempt to escape. You were in a dead end alley, and he was blocking the only way out, so you ran past him.

Except he was anticipating this move. So all he had to do was stick his arm out and wrap his slender fingers around your shoulder to catch you.

As you were “escaping” he caught you by the shoulder and whirled you around to face him. Grabbing your chin with his other hand, he forced you to look into his eyes.

“Stop trying to run away.” he sighed in exasperation, “You already ruined my night, fuck.”

Letting your chin go, he moved his hand that had been on your shoulder to your bare wrist. Flinching from his cold touch, you don’t realize he’s leading you out of the alley until you are back onto the street. Trying to wrench your arm out of his grip, which doesn’t work, you study him further now that you have an opportunity. His tattoos looked hot under the neon light and you took a deep breath when you saw the intricate details of a dragon curling up his neck. 

“Shit.” you mutter under your breath.

“What was that?” He asks, looking back.

“Nothing.” You scowl.

He was walking at a brisk pace, forcing you to keep up. Now seeing that you were approaching what appeared to be the actual door to the garage, he takes out a key and unlocks the door. Bells jingling, the two of you enter the shop. Once again, he begins to drag you somewhere, his grip still steel. This time, you two go up a set of stairs that you hadn’t noticed earlier. Not expecting to have to climb a set of stairs, you nearly trip going up them. Stopping, he sends a glare your way. Then he turns right back around and leads you to the top.

Opening the door, he shoves you inside and shuts it. Turning around, he started walking towards you until both of you were nose to nose, staring into each other's eyes.

“I’m going to ask you this one more fucking time, why in the world are you in my shop in the middle of the night?” He demands.

“None of your fucking business.” You reply smugly.

He then looks at you like you are the most stupid being he ever laid his eyes on.

“It is my fucking business.” He grinds out and gestures around him. “This is my shop, hence why this is my business.”

“Fine, whatever.” You said, still not providing an answer.

“Stop being so difficult.” He responded while rubbing his hand down his face.

“Ok, here’s the deal, my story is a long one.” You told him. “Do you have time?”

“You think I’m busy right now?” He said sarcastically.

“That's not an answer.” 

“Yes, I have time.” He stated while giving you a glare.

You then proceeded to tell him the whole story. Both of you sat down on the bed, you noticing that the room you were in was a bedroom. While you told the man your story, you began to observe the room. It was littered with food wrappers and cans of energy drinks next to alcohol bottles. In a corner you saw what looked like a video game console with games spread around it, most of them driving games. There were also about 20 tools just lying around everywhere, most on top of stacks of paper showing almost inconceivable scribbles and vaguely sketched pictures of cars and their parts. After you told the man your explanation, you then asked him why there was a bedroom in an auto shop, to which he replied, “Cause I want one.”

“So what is going to happen to me?” You ask while he thinks over your story.

“Uh, I don’t know.”

“Huh” You gave him a questioning look.

“You think I know what to do with a random ass girl in a car shop she isn’t supposed to be in at 3 in the morning with money she obviously stole in her hand?” He exclaimed.

“Oh, well I’m sorry that your window wasn’t locked.” You shot back.

“We never thought someone would be stupid enough to break in!” He ground out.

“What do you mean stupid enough?! I’m not stupid, asshole.” You bite back.

“Do you not know who we are?” 

“No?” you replied, “Why would I?”

He then rubs his hand on his eyes again and curses.

“That just makes this worse, fuck.” He says as he raises his head again.

At that, he stands up and goes into the corner before grabbing what looked to be a handheld gaming device. He walks back over to the bed and sits in the corner, leaning against the wall. He then proceeds to ignore your existence for the next 20 minutes before lowering his console and meeting your eyes. With a sigh, he sets it down completely and turns to face you.

“What is it?” He grumbles in a bored tone.

“First of all, you can’t just force me in here and then ignore me. And second, can you fucking explain what is happening here?” You exclaim incredulously.

“We are waiting.” He replies vaguely.

“For. Fucking. What.” 

“For Kuroo to get back.” Replying again with the same vagueness.

“And who is Kuroo?”

“The guy who owns this shop.” He says curtly.

“Ok, well when will he be here?”

“Probably around 9 in the morning.”

“What?!” You exclaimed.

“Yeah, so it’s 4 A.M. right now.” He mumbles as he checks his phone.

“That’s five hours.” You glare at him.

“So?” He says, and then gets up to go sit on the floor and mess with some car parts.

“Five hours my ass.” You grumble under your breath.

Deciding that there wasn’t much else to go except sleep, you lay on your side, staring at the wall and trying to fall asleep. Thank god the coffee had worn off, because within five minutes, you were breathing softly with your eyes closed.

What felt like five minutes later, you felt someone shake your shoulder. Rolling over, you ignore them and go back to sleep. This time, you felt yourself being rolled over. You slowly open your eyes to the face of the man from last night. Scrambling up and away from him, you fall against the wall. 

“Fuck, so it wasn’t a dream.” You groaned into your hand as you ran it down your face.

“Nope!” A different voice exclaimed.

Surprised, you look up to see a tall, lanky man leaning in the doorway, with jet black hair covering one side of his face in one of the most ridiculous bedheads you had ever seen. However, you could see he was hot, so the hair didn’t really matter. 

“Your Kuroo?” You guessed.

Turning to the man from last night he says, “Wow you didn’t tell me she was smart.” with a sarcastic tone.

“Fuck you, I’m still alseep.” You responded.

“Hey, hey I’m just joking.” He says, “So I heard you were in our shop last night stealing?”

His eyes had taken a dangerous gleam, and you thought for the first time that maybe, you weren’t safe.

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that,” laughing nervously,you say, “it was an accident, so let’s just forget about it.”

“Nah.” He replies.

“Ok, I’m really sorry.” 

“Sorry isn’t good enough. I got filled in on your little story and heard that you live in a car and that your dirt broke. With no family, you drive around Tokyo and rob convenience stores. So it doesn’t sound like you can pay us in any way. I guess we'll just have to turn you to the cops then.” He says with a smug grin. 

“Kuro-” The other man starts to say.

“No! Please I will do anything.” You try and look as innocent and pitiful as you can, because you couldn’t be turned to the fucking cops, you’d rot in jail.

Kuroo seems to ponder for a moment, before donning another grin not unlike his smug one from moments ago.

“Ok! Since I’m so nice,” He says, “You can be Kenma’s assistant here in the shop!”

“What?!” The man from last night exclaims, looking angry.

“Wait, who’s Kenma?”


	2. After knowing his name

Some notes: So I had a couple questions about this fic so I will try and answer them. This will be a non-gender specific story, so people will refer to y/n as they/them. You can always imagine your own pronouns for y/n, but that's what it will look like in the story. Also, I’m still deciding on whether I want to put smut in or not. With y/n not having a specific gender, I’m not sure how I would be able to do that. Also, be aware, this story is a slow burn fic, it isn’t going to be structured like Deciphered. In fact, the story may not even go along with the same storyline as Deciphered at all, since I know Kenma is slightly involved in it. The story will move slowly (with lots of tension), and I don’t have an update schedule because that just feels like school to me lol. Like I said, I’m not going to be focused on smut, though it may show up, but it will not resemble Deciphered with the smut-ridden plot. Leia and Kuroo will have a relationship in this fic, but I don’t know if any of the other characters will show up because the story will mostly take place at the car shop. So sorry how much I’m writing but I just want to get things clear. Also, y/n will not have a specific race or ethnicity, obviously they will be from Japan, but there won’t be any lines like “their blue eyes shimmered against their pale skin.” Also, I know that the Author of Deciphered is receiving backlash for portraying Oikawa the way they did. I am not going to speak on this, as I’m not Hispanic, but just know that if Oikawa shows up in this fic at all, he won’t be portrayed the same way. As well, I’m not sure how much street racing this fic will have, as it will mostly be centered around y/n and Kenma in the auto shop, but I might have some racing chapters as well. Anyways, I think that wraps up this ridiculously long author's note. Enjoy!

Some songs i recommend while reading this chapter are:

LORD FUBU- NEVER LEAVE YOU LONELY

LYKKE LI- LITTLE BIT

AFTER DARK- MR.KITTY (obviously)

FRAMED- UHHHHHH

FATBOIBARI- ROMANCE GARBAGE

“I’m Kenma.” The man from last night turned away from the two of you and let out a frustrated groan.

“Wha- wait.” You sputtered out, “I’m going to be working with him?!”

“That’s right!” Kuroo exclaimed.

“Kuro, why the fuck would you rope me into this?” Kenma asked.

“Mmm, cause I want to.” He said gleefully, knowing how much shit Kenma was going to give him for this.

“I’m not the one who was stealing from an auto shop at 3 in the morning!” Kenma exclaimed.

Wanting some answers, you interrupt the two men as they bickered.

“Wait, why am I going to be working here?” You said, “And how will that even make up for the fact that I tried to steal from you?” 

“How about you tell me your name before I answer that?” Kuroo asked.

“Why should I tell you?” You shot back.

“Because you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me.” He winked, and you glared at him.

“It’s y/n.”

“Ok, well y/n, I can’t exactly turn you to the police as I don't exactly have the best relationship with them. And I can’t just let you go after what you did, so this is the next best solution.” Kuroo flashes you a grin that looks more scary than friendly, “I know that you’re homeless, and own a sick-ass car, so how about you help Kenma out at the shop, have a place to stay, and learn to actually take care of your car?”

“And what if I don’t want to?”

“Then you have to leave Tokyo!” He says with a smile that doesn’t quite reach his eyes. “I mean, we can’t have someone who stole from us just keep walking around our city.”

Kenma then interrupts, “Kuroo why the fuck do you think this is a good idea, they literally have no knowledge about cars. Not to mention they don’t even know who we are, so we can let them go!”

“And how do you know that they aren’t lying?” Kuroo pointed out matter of factly.

As the two men continued to argue, you sat back down on the bed and studied both of them. They both had similar tattoos, a dragon, where Kenma’s was on his neck, Kuroo’s was on his arm. Kuroo was wearing much flashier clothes than Kenma’s grease stained jumpsuit, however you much preferred how he looked. Kuroo looked like he would take you out to an expensive restaurant and talk about himself the entire time. 

Noticing the bickering had stopped, you focused your attention on the two men again and saw the two of them staring at you.

“What?”

Kenma sighed and said, “C’mon, lets go to your car and get your stuff unloaded.”

“Huh?” You asked, clueless.

“Did you not hear the entire conversation we just had?” He said in an irritated tone.

“Nah.”

“But you were staring at us for five minutes.”

A blush rose on your cheeks, and you turned away.

“I was just tired, I’m still sleepy!” You defended.

He stared at your face, studying as if he didn’t believe you, before turning away towards the door and motioning for you to come. Yet again, he took you by the wrist and dragged you through the shop. This must be a habit of his, you thought.

Hearing voices, you took a look around, and saw that the shop that had been dark and deserted last night, was now filled with light, and people. The cars parked around the vast space were still sparkling clean, with people in the hoods. The shop was clean, and organized, aside from the bench you had used to climb down from the window last night.

As you passed the people around the shop, some turned towards the two of you, intrigued. As you were studied, you heard Kuroo talking to some short, red haired guy about an oil change for a (particularly sexy) red Toyota Supra, it looked like it was from the 90’s. The only knowledge you had of cars were the models, as your dad would page through magazines full of cars from the 90’s all the way to present while the two of you ate meals together.

With another tug on your wrist, Kenma shoved you outside. Expecting him to bid you good bye and slam the door at your back, you were surprised to hear footsteps coming through the door, and the noise of it closing. 

Turning around, you see Kenma right behind you. Flinching in surprise, he gives you a weird look and shakes his head. 

“So, where’s your car?” He asked in a bored tone.

“Why are you out here?”

“Are you stupid?”

“Sorry, I just wasn’t paying attention to your conversation earlier because it was boring.” You admitted truthfully.

“Fine. I’ll recount what’s happening.” He said.

“Right now, we are going to go to your car and assess what we need to do to get it running again. If we can’t get it to start, we can go grab some parts from the shop, or a couple guys to help push it to the shop. Since I’m so gracious, I get to lend you the upstairs bedroom. And, you and I will start working together. I’ll teach you how to fix cars, and we will start by fixing your car, so if you fuck it up, it won’t damage my reputation.”

“Why are you letting me have your bedroom?” You asked.

“Cause it was just a spare I crashed in when I worked late, I have my own apartment.”

“Oh.” For a second you thought he was trying to be nice to you.

“Believe me, I hate this just as much as you do. However, Kuroo has been on my ass to get an assistant for years now because of how much demand there is for my services. And I’m too busy to find one, so you will be fine.”

“Let’s talk on the way to my car, this way.” You pointed down the street, and the two of you started walking.

Looking at the buildings to either side of the street, you notice everything looks so much busier during the day. What you thought was a deserted side street in Tokyo, was actually a bustling neighborhood. Teens walked with their friends, as it was the weekend, and shop owners had their doors open, with customers spilling in and out. It was a nice day, with fluffy clouds in the light blue sky. A slight wind moved your hair off of your neck and you relished in the cool feeling.

Looking to your left, you realized Kenma had changed clothes while you were sleeping. He was now wearing baggy jeans, a hoodie, and a beanie. His tattoos look like he had attempted to cover them up with foundation or concealer, which you understood, in Japan, people looked down on those with tattoos, associating them with the idea of Yakuza. 

He noticed you were staring, and gave you a questioning glance. You looked away blushing.

“Why couldn’t he be ugly, or an old man?” You thought.

“Hey, is that your car?” He suddenly asked.

Looking ahead, you caught a glimpse of the white BMW. Smiling as you thought of your dad when he used to drive it.

“Mhm, yeah that’s it.”

Walking up to it, you saw a couple people looking inside, as if looking for a driver to blame for the random car in the middle of a narrow street. 

“Excuse me.” You said, walking to the drivers door.

You were almost to the door when a middle-aged man came up to you and started yelling. 

“Your car is in the middle of the road! I had to call my shipment of fruit off because you were blocking the road!” He seethed.

“I’m so sorry, my car broke do-” 

“I don’t care! I expect you to reimburse me for my wasted time!”

“Sir I am very sorry, but I don’t have any money on me right now.” You tried to calm him down.

“Well then you have to make it up to me a different way!” He raised his arm, as if about to slap you.

You flinched, ready for the sting of a slap across the face, but it never came. Looking up, you saw that a pale hand had caught the man's hand before he could strike. Looking to where that hand connected to a body, you saw kenma was right behind you, arm snaking past your head, seething.

“Don’t hurt them.” He said with a dangerous look in his eyes.

“Oh? And who might you be?” 

“I'm from Nekoma, down the street, and their car broke down before they could make it to my shop. We are going to move it now.” Kenma said in a cool voice, “Please let us get in the car.”

Turning away, the man grumbled to himself, still not satisfied, but not wanting to cause any further disturbances, as the passersby were watching the spectacle.

Dumbfounded, you turned to Kenma.

“C’mon, get in the car, let’s see if it will start.” He said.

So you both got in the car, you in the driver's seat and him in the passenger’s. You put the keys in the ignition and turn it, praying to some god that your car will start and the two of you can get away from the angry man, still glaring at you from his storefront. By some miracle, the engine rumbled to life and the car rolled forward. On the way to the shop, neither of you talked, just sitting in an awkward silence. Once you got there and parked out front however, you asked him why he defended you.

“Cause he was being an asshole.” He said, matter of factly.

“Oh, thanks.” You replied with a small smile.

Sitting there for a moment, he stared at you, surprised that you actually could smile, until he shook it off and got out of the car. When you noticed the small blush on his cheeks, you shot him a teasing smirk, to which he replied by flipping you off.

As you entered the shop, several people stopped what they were doing and came over. All of them were wearing the same uniform Kenma had on last night, so you assumed they were all mechanics. 

“Kenma! Where the fuck were you all morning? You know how many cars you got lined up for today, right?” One of them exclaims.

“Yeah, I know.” He replies with a sigh.

Another man comes up to you, “Who are they?”

“They are my assistant from now on.” He says, “y/n.”

“What?! I thought you said that you were never going to get an assistant?”

“Yaku, I didn’t choose this, Kuroo forced me.”

“That’s right, I did.” Kuroo says, coming up behind you guys.

Shooting Kuroo a dirty look, Kenma grabs your hand and leads you back up to the bedroom you had slept in the night before saying, “I’ll be right down after I show y/n where everything is.” over his shoulder.

Again, you too go up the stairs and into the bedroom from before.

“So this is where you will stay. Apparently Kuroo is in a giving mood, because he’s never done anything like this.”

“Huh, so wait how long do I have to stay here?” You ask, running your fingers along the wall.

“I don’t know, I guess when Kuroo decides that you have made it up to him?” Kenma says as if he has no idea either.

Kenma grabs your hand again and does his weird tug lead thing. You wonder if he’s a sadist, enjoying yanking people around like it’s nothing. Shaking the thought out of your head, the two of you enter another room, this one filled to the brim with boxes of what looked like parts for various cars. There were around 10 shelves in the room, making a maze-like structure. 

“This is our storage room, we keep parts in here.” Kenma tells you like he's directing a tour of a school or museum, bored and unhappy.

Again, he tries to take your hand, this time you dodge it, and smirk when he sends you a glare.

“You know, if you keep grabbing my wrists like that, I’m going to think that's the kind of stuff you're into.” You say with a laugh.

He looks at you with confusion in his face, before turning bright red. 

“What the fuck kinda statement is that?!” He says, embarrassed.

“Well I had to say something, you were bruising my wrists.” You stated, showing him your wrists which were turning purple.

“You deserved it for breaking in.” He said.

Instead of grabbing your wrist this time, as the two of you were walking out the door of the room, you felt a hand guide you by the small of your back.

“Fuck” You thought, he’s got to be kidding me.

Once you two were at the top of the stairwell, he let his hand fall from your back, and you let out a sigh of relief. Going down, you survey the shop and see just how big it is, there are what must be 20 cars being polished, worked on, and admired. And it looked like there were just as many bystanders as mechanics, which confused you.

“Hey Kenma, why are there so many people here that aren’t mechanics?” You asked.

“Oh, cause the cars in here are their cars. They wanna talk with the mechanics to make sure their car is ready in time.” He replied vaguely.

“Ready for what?” By now you were used to how vague Kenma was with everything he said, and fed up with it as well.

“The race this weekend.” He said like it was something anyone could guess.

“Wait, race?!” You exclaimed, “As in street racing? Which is illegal?”

“Now you know why Kuroo couldn’t turn you into the police.” Kenma said with a smirk.

Nodding, you continue down the stairs. As he leads you to the next stop on his “tour” of the building, you open your mouth to ask him about the race that he mentioned.

“So, can I go?”

“To what.”

“The race of course!” You were now intrigued, as your dad had been one to tell you stories of his time in Tokyo, going to drag races in abandoned parking garages until sunrise. You had always had an interest in them, asking your dad to recite these stories from his youth over and over. At some point he had stopped, worried that you were a bit too interested in illegal street racing for your own good, so you had almost forgotten about your interest.

“No, why would you go to that?” He replied stubbornly.

“So I can learn about cars of course.” 

Feeling an arm wrap around your shoulder, you flinch in surprise, before looking to your left and seeing Kuroo with his arms linking you, Kenma, and him together. 

Kenma pushes Kuroo’s arm off his shoulder with a huff and crosses his arms. You do the same, after an awkward moment.

“So, what are you two talking about?” Kuroo asks with his signature sly grin.

“Kenma was just telling me about how I’m not allowed to go to the street race this weekend.”

“Kenma, why can’t they go?”

“Cause it’s dangerous, and they're annoying, and I know you're going to rope me into taking them if they do go.” He grumbles.

“Your right, I am going to make you take them, you owe me.” Kuroo says, “Also, y/n the only reason I’m allowing you to go is because I don’t trust you at the shop alone after what you did.”

“Hmph.”

Kuroo then leaves and once again Kenma takes your wrist in his vice-like grip, seemingly forgetting about your comment from earlier. You were thinking too hard about what Kenma might owe Kuroo to remind him of it.

“Hey, why do you owe Kuroo?”

After a moment, he speaks, hesitantly, “I didn’t finish a job for him.”


End file.
